Fruits Basket: High School Years
by FBGoldfish
Summary: AU fic, meaning OOC. It's Tohru's senior year in high school and she wants it to be the best ever. Things start to change as a new kid Kyo arrives and enters her life. Of course Yuki, Kagura, and Haru will be there to spice things up a bit. Drama ensues!
1. School Begins

"Don't Worry Haru…I'm sure that Kagura will notice you someday." Tohru Honda said as she took a bite from her sandwich. She was sitting next to her long-time best friend Hatsuharu during the school lunch break. Tohru was trying to cheer him up after his daily rejection from Kagura Sohma, the most popular girl in school. Haru had had a crush on the girl for the entirety of their junior year and she didn't even know he existed.

"Come on Haru, we're seniors now! We get to rule the school. Don't worry about Kagura. If she knew what a great guy you were, she'd be all over you!" Tohru said jokingly. Haru just continued to push his food around his plate, not actually eating anything. They sat by themselves everyday at lunch. Tohru was seen as a nerd in her school and Haru was the shy guy. They first became friends in middle school after Kagura had purposely spilt milk all over Tohru and Haru helped her clean it up.

BAARRIINNGG!

The school bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

"Well it's off to English class I guess…come on Haru, I don't want us to be late on the first day of class." Tohru grabbed Haru and they left the cafeteria and headed toward their classroom. They walked through several hallways before finally reaching their destination.

"Here it is, Room 203. Let's go in." Tohru said as she opened the door. Several students were already in their seats as more were coming in behind Tohru and Haru. Everyone took the seats labeled with their names on them. Tohru ended up in the back of the room while Haru's seat was towards the front. She glanced at the name on the seat next to her to see who she was stuck sitting next to. _Hmm…Arisa Uotani… Great… That girl never does any of her work. She'll probably copy off of me all the time._

The bell rang again as class was about to begin. Their teacher walked in to greet the class. Tohru thought he seemed pretty young but he was kind of cute so she didn't mind.

"Hello class. I'm Shigure Sohma, but you can call me Mr. Shigure, and I will be your English teacher this year. Now I'm sure you're all wandering how someone so young and handsome such as myself came to be a teacher," he said with a giggle, "I am an aspiring novelist and found I would be most useful in life if I passed on my knowledge of the written word to you folks." He smiled.

"Now I want you all to introduce yourselves. We will start with the front row and I want you all to state your name and anything interesting about yourselves that you'd like to share."

Tohru listened as everyone introduced themselves.

"Yuki Sohma." One kid said. Tohru perked up a bit. Yuki Sohma was the most popular guy in school. He was so handsome and kind and every girl in school wished she could go out with him. Unfortunately, he was currently attached, to Kagura Sohma. _That girl has everything. The looks, the clothes, the mansion, and the cutest guy in school. _Tohru thought to herself. Just then Tohru noticed the room had gotten quiet and everyone was staring at her.

"Could you please introduce yourself miss?" She heard Mr. Shigure ask her. _Oh my gosh! I'm such an idiot. It's my turn._

"What a ditz. She gets straight A's but she doesn't even know her own name." Tohru heard Kagura Sohma say to her friends in an obviously loud voice. She always found ways to make fun of Tohru and Tohru never understood why she was always the target of their insults. It seemed like no matter what she did, Kagura hated her.

"I'm terribly sorry sir… My name is Tohru Honda and I'm a member of the Drama Club here at school." She said with a tremendous blush on her face, embarrassed from her clumsiness. _What a great first impression Tohru. The teacher probably thinks you're a dummy now._

"Thank you Tohru," Shigure said calmly. "Now class, your first assignment will be to write an introductory letter to your classmates, telling them more about yourselves so it makes it easier for us to understand each other. Start working on it now and finish it up for homework."

* * *

Tohru met Haru outside the door after class.

"You alright Tohru..?" Haru asked noticing the glum look on her face.

"Yea..I'm fine. I just can't believe that I made a fool of myself like that in front of everyone, especially on the first day of school. Mr. Shigure must think I'm an idiot, especially after what Kagura said." Tohru sighed. Her first day of school had not gone as she had hoped. She wanted everything to be different this year. She had hoped that Kagura would've become nicer over the summer but apparently she didn't change at all.

"I just wish I knew why she hated me so much Haru. I don't understand. What did I ever do to her?" Tohru looked up at Haru who was shuffling his feet as he listened to her. Tohru sighed again.

"Sorry Haru. I know you really like Kagura, I didn't mean to talk about her like that."

"It's alright, Tohru," Haru said. "I don't understand why I like her that much myself. There's just something about her that I just can't let go of." Tohru smiled at this. Haru was such a sweet boy. She would never understand what he saw in Kagura, but she would support him all the way. They left school and started walking home together.

* * *

"Grandpa, I'm home!" Tohru yelled as she walked into her house. She and her brother had been staying with her grandfather for the past two years since their mom died. She was killed in a car accident so their grandpa had offered to take them in. Their mother's death had tremendously affected Tohru, especially in school. Her grades dropped from A's to B's within a matter of weeks. The only thing that even kept her in school was that her mom had always wanted her to get her high school diploma because her mother never had.

"How was your first day of school Tohru?" Her grandfather asked with a smile on his face.

Tohru sighed. "It was alright I guess. I got caught daydreaming in English class today when it was my turn to introduce myself. I felt so stupid Grandpa. Everyone looked at me like I was a loser and Kagura made fun of me for not knowing my own name."

"I'm sorry that you had a rough day Tohru. If you want, I can order us take-out so that you don't have to cook us dinner tonight." He suggested hopefully.

"That would be wonderful, thank you." Tohru said appreciatively. She was the only one in the house who could cook well. Her little brother was too short to reach the stove and her grandfather was too old to be able to handle the equipment carefully. Tohru was relieved that she didn't have to cook tonight. All she wanted to do was go to bed.

Tohru walked into the living room to find her brother sitting on the couch watching T.V.

"Hello Hiro, how was your first day of eighth grade?" Tohru asked as she sat down next to him on the couch. Hiro gave her an annoyed look.

"What a stupid question. It's school. It's never fun. I don't even understand why anyone has to go to school at all. It's absolutely pointless," he replied, "and don't think I'm letting you have the remote because I'm not. I have just as much right to this T.V. as you do."

It always shocked Tohru how annoying her little brother could be. All she did was ask him how his day was, and he scolded her for doing absolutely nothing. _That's what I get for trying to be a good sister I guess._ She thought to herself as she walked up the stairs towards her bedroom. When she got inside, she ran and jumped onto her bed, finally able to rest.

Tohru stared at her ceiling for a while before going to bed. _I want this year to be different._ She thought. _I'm tired of being picked on all the time. But what can I do? I never go out of my way to be mean to anyone. I don't understand why they pick on me. I want to make more friends and not always sit alone at lunch with Haru…I just want people to like me…_ Tohru quickly fell asleep dreaming about her ideal school year.

* * *

"Have you seen the new kid!" a girl in Tohru's science class exclaimed excitedly. "I hear he's related to Yuki. He's his second cousin or something." Tohru listened as the girl's giggled to themselves. _A new kid huh? Maybe we'll become friends!_ Tohru got excited and told Haru the news.

"I know Tohru. The whole school is talking about it," Haru said. "I hear he's something like a rebel though. He doesn't talk to anyone or anything."

"I'm sure he's just shy. I mean, it's his first day in a completely new school. If he's related to Yuki then I'm sure he's really nice." A smile appeared on Tohru's face. "We'll have to introduce ourselves when we see him. Maybe he's in one of our classes! We could show him the ropes of the school and be his first friends! I'm so happy! I can't wait to meet him!"

* * *

A/N: Hi again everybody! Okay, I know its not that great, but I'm a little rusty at the moment. It will get interesting soon so stick with me k! I promise! Read and Review! 


	2. The New Kid

A/N: Okay so this chapter should hopefully be a little bit better. I'm expecting this story to be kind of long so I'm hoping everyone sticks with me. I'll have time to write everyday since summer is approaching so you shouldn't have to wait too long for updates. Yay! Oh and for this story, I'm making the chapters a lil shorter so its easier for people to read and keep up.

* * *

The lunch bell rang as Tohru and Haru left history class. Tohru was upset because she hadn't seen the new kid at all. For some reason, she felt he was going to be an important factor in having a great senior year. They walked into the bustling cafeteria and searched around for a place to sit. An empty table appeared before them and they quickly snatched it.

"I'm going to go stand in line and get my lunch okay Tohru?"

"Sure Haru, go ahead." Tohru replied. She had always packed herself a lunch every morning. One, because she didn't have enough money to buy food year-round, and two, the school food here wasn't exactly appetizing to her. When Haru left, Tohru began to realize how alone she really was. She felt like everyone was staring at her all by herself. Suddenly, the cafeteria got silent and Tohru looked up to see why.

"Look at him. He's so handsome. But I hear he hasn't said a word to anyone all day. What a weirdo. He's not anything like Yuki. There's no way they're related." Tohru overheard some girl whisper to her friend. She glanced over and saw him walking past the tables, searching for one to sit at. She gasped. _Oh my god, that's him! He _is _cute! I can't wait to meet him!_

Tohru watched as the kid sat down at an empty table and began to eat his lunch. The cafeteria returned to its normal volume as people began to talk about the new arrival. Tohru looked over at him, noticing they were both sitting alone. _I know! I should go ask if he wants to sit with us. I'm sure Haru won't mind._ With that, she got up and walked over to his table and sat down across from him.

"Hi, I'm Tohru Honda. What's your name?"

"…"

Tohru frowned. _He's not very talkative. I'm sure he's just shy and that he'll open up eventually._

"I just saw you sitting over here by yourself and I thought maybe you would want to come sit with my friend Haru and I. It would be great to get to know you and I'm sure you could use a friend since you're new and everything." She said with hopeful eyes. But once again she received only an annoyed stare in return. _Man, he is one hard shell to crack!_ _What am I going to do?_

Tohru looked at him once again for some sign of recognition but received none. _Sigh. I guess I'll try again tomorrow._

"Ok. Sorry for interrupting you. Thanks anyway."

She walked back to her own table and found Haru sitting there eating his lovely meal of corn and chicken nuggets, which seemed slightly uncooked, but no different than usual. She sat down across from Haru with a sad expression on her face.

"I'm guessing he didn't take to lightly to your conversation attempts huh?" Haru asked sarcastically. Tohru stuck her tongue out at him in return and forced a giggle. _I can't believe he just ignored me like that. It was as though I didn't even exist. _She decided not to worry about it for a while and began to eat her lunch.

Haru smirked a little. He had always admired Tohru for the kindness she showed towards others. She was always outgoing and willing to try new things, meet new people. They were complete opposites, but best friends just the same. _I wish I were more like her. Easygoing and outspoken. She's never afraid to say what's on her mind._ Just then, Kagura walked by with her "entourage" so to speak and Haru's heart skipped a beat as he watched her pass by.

_Not even a glance. _He sighed. _I'll never be good enough for someone like her. She's a beautiful, rich princess, and I live in a townhouse and have to support my family._ Both Tohru and Haru finished their lunches in silence, both of them thinking about their problems.

The bell finally rang for them to go to English class, and Tohru and Haru wasted no time in leaving the cafeteria. Tohru was still upset about her confrontation with the new kid. _He wouldn't even tell me his name._

_

* * *

_

Tohru was tapping her pencil against her desk in English. Mr. S, as Tohru liked to call him, had been rambling on about his life, feeling that the students needed to get to know him to understand his point of view as a teacher. According to him, this would help their student-teacher relationship to work easier. _I'm so bored._

POP

Tohru's eyebrows curved downward slightly. _She's been doing that for 10 minutes. I can't take it anymore._ She looked to her left and watched as Arisa Uotani continued to blow the largest bubble she possibly could and preceded to let it pop obnoxiously loud. Just when Tohru was about to put her foot down and ask the girl to stop, there was a knock at the door.

Shigure stopped his speech (_Thank heavens._) and opened the door. Tohru's eyes lit up as the new kid entered the room along with the guidance counselor of the school. _Oh my gosh, I can't believe he's in this class. That gives me another chance to talk to him! I am determined to get him to open up!_ She listened as the guidance counselor explained everything to the class.

"Hello class. This is Kyo Sohma. He just came to us from Tokyo and I'm sure you will all make him feel welcome here." She said and left the room.

Tohru looked around the room to see where his possible seating options were, and she realized that the only open seat in the classroom was to her right. She wasn't sure whether she should be happy about that or not. _I guess I will be able to talk to him more this way but he doesn't seem like such a pleasant person. Stop it Tohru. You shouldn't judge people like that._ She told herself. _I'll just be myself and hope for the best._

"Well," Shigure started, "I guess you can take a seat in the back there next to Miss Honda." He gestured towards the vacant seat and Kyo walked over to it and sat down. Tohru tried to fight her curiosity by not looking at him but she eventually gave in. Apparently she wasn't the only one because the teacher soon broke the silence.

"Ahem. If everyone could turn their heads towards me please. I'm sure Mr. Sohma doesn't want to be the center of attention now. Anyway, back to my story…" Shigure started.

Tohru sighed. _There's more. This is going to take all class period._ She decided that she should at least make the attempt to be nice to Kyo as much as she could hoping that he would eventually open up to her and talk to her.

"Hi there." She said in a low voice so as not to interrupt the teacher. Tohru looked at Kyo, waiting for some sort of response. He didn't even look at her. Feeling somewhat defeated, she turned back towards the front of the classroom and pretended to listen to Shigure's story.

* * *

After class Tohru and Haru walked home together, following their usual routine.

"You were right, Haru. Kyo is so closed and refuses to even look at me let alone talk to me. It's like he hates me already and I just met him. I don't know what to do about it."

"Well," Haru began, "he's probably a little shy, just like you said. If you really want to befriend this guy, then just keep doing what you're doing. He can't hate you for being nice. He's probably just a little intimidated."

_Intimidated?_ Tohru wondered. _Was I forceful? Oh my gosh, I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have pushed him to talk about himself on his first day here. Maybe he's just scared or something._ Tohru watched as Kyo left the classroom and headed towards the school exit. He walked with an air of confidence and cockiness. _He sure doesn't seem scared or intimidated._

"Don't worry about it Tohru. I'm sure he'll come around eventually." Haru reassured her.

"You're right, Haru. I should just keep trying. Mom always said, 'It takes away half the fun if you don't get to work for what you want.'" Tohru exclaimed more to herself than to her friend. She heard her mom's words in her head: _Just be yourself. You'll be fine…_

_

* * *

_

The next day at lunch, Haru and Tohru found their seats at the same empty table. Haru went to buy his lunch while Tohru began eating the one she made for herself. But she found it hard to eat. She found herself constantly looking for Kyo, even in the hallways, determined to talk to him. Eventually he entered the cafeteria and she watched as he went to the same table he sat at yesterday.

_Please let him at least say something this time._ Tohru crossed her fingers as she got up and walked over to Kyo's table. He looked up at her with a sort of surprised look on his face. _Is that good or bad?_ She thought to herself.

"Hello again. I'm Tohru, in case you forgot. I just came over to once again offer you a seat at our table. You don't have to talk to us if you don't want to but it would be nice to have some company, and I'm sure you don't want to sit by yourself either. So how about it?"

"…No thanks…" He said. Tohru was shocked. She didn't actually expect him to answer. _Ha! I'm making progress. I'm sure he'll be spouting full sentences in no time! _

"Okay. No problem. Sorry for interrupting you." She walked away smiling. Haru looked at her with a confused expression resting on his face. "Why are you so happy?" He asked.

"He actually spoke to me!" Tohru replied excitedly. "Well, all he said was 'No thanks' but hey, at least he didn't completely ignore me. I just have to keep trying, that's all." She kept telling herself that throughout the rest of lunch. She planned to be extra nice to him in English today and somehow find a way to make him talk to her.

* * *

English class started off as usual with a boring speech by Shigure on how reading is important in life. They were asked to take notes on the key points that they heard for they were to write a summary of the lecture later. _What a stupid assignment._ Tohru thought. She glanced over to her right at Kyo as she thought about their conversation at the beginning of class:

"_Hello Kyo! How are you today?"_

"…"

"_I like that shirt. Brown looks good on you."_

He never said anything to her but Tohru had just smiled anyway, making it seem like she didn't care. _I don't understand why he's so…weird. All I'm looking for is a little 'hello' every now and then._ She noticed that he was doodling on a piece of paper at the moment. Suddenly his pencil tip broke and she heard him curse to himself. Kyo fumbled around for a new writing utensil and became quite frustrated when he couldn't find one.

"Here you go." Tohru said plainly as she handed him one of her extra pencils. He looked at her with surprise and reached out to grab the pencil. He wanted to say 'Thank You' but decided not to because he didn't want her to think she had won. Kyo began doodling again as if nothing had happened.

"Don't worry about not saying thank you, Kyo. I know deep down inside that you wanted to." Tohru said to him smiling. The bell rang and she got up and left for home, leaving Kyo sitting alone feeling guilty and in shock.

_Who is this girl?_

_

* * *

_

A/N: Yea so next chapter is going to focus more on Kyo's thoughts and such. Hope you liked this one! Till next time! R&R!


	3. Supermarket Surprise

A/N: Hi again! I know you might want to kill me cuz I haven't written in who knows how long. But the A key on my keyboard is sticking and even now its hard for me to type at a quick rate. And now my Z key is sticking too..Grr! But I'm back now so I hope all my reviewers stick with me!

* * *

Kyo walked home from school with a million thoughts running through his head. _Why won't that girl leave me alone?_ Tohru Honda had come up to him every single day at lunch for the first week of school and asked if he wanted to sit with them. He had politely refused of course but he couldn't help feeling curious as to whom this girl was. He stopped thinking about it as he walked up his driveway and entered his house.

"Kyo? Is that you?" Kyo heard his mother ask him as he walked through the doorway. His mom was a very energetic, outgoing sort of person. He figured she had to be in order to raise two kids on her own. Kyo lived with his mom and sister. They had moved to this new city because his mom couldn't keep the old house that they had lived in with Kyo's father. Anger whipped through Kyo as he thought about his father. _What an asshole. He just left out of nowhere._

He had never had a great relationship with his father but he felt that his mother didn't deserve to have to raise he and his sister all by herself. She was too good a person to have to deal with that. They had recovered well enough though. His mom had been able to find a job as a dentist secretary, which paid enough to cover the bills and put food on the table.

"Kyo!" He snapped out of his thoughts as he heard his mother's voice. "Go get your sister and tell her that dinner is ready." Kyo nodded and went upstairs to find his sister. Kisa was sitting on her bed reading a new book she had checked out at the library. She looked up, hearing Kyo's footsteps on her soft carpet, and she smiled. Kyo smiled back and told her that dinner was ready. She got up and walked with Kyo downstairs to the dining room. He and Kisa had become really close since their parents had begun fighting. They helped each other deal with their parents' divorce.

Everyone sat down at the dinner table. "Wow mom, this looks good." Kyo said as he gazed upon their meal of Italian chicken, broccoli, mash potatoes, and biscuits. He was surprised that they could afford a big meal like this but he didn't complain. "Yea mama, this looks great." Kisa smiled. They dug in and began eating when their mother began their nightly dinner conversations.

"So Kisa, how's eighth grade? Are you fitting in alright in the new school?"

"Yes mama. I'm doing just fine. All the teachers seem really nice and I'm sure I'll have no problem making friends." Kyo's mother smiled at this and preceded to ask Kyo how his school days were going. A picture of Tohru immediately flashed in Kyo's head after hearing his mother's question, but he ignored it.

"School is fine, mom. No different than any other school day…"

His mother continued to smile, happy that her kids were doing well in their new home. Kyo and Kisa had asked her how her new job was going and if everything was well with her. She responded telling them that she thoroughly enjoyed her new job and that her co-workers were very accepting and sympathetic towards her. She quickly began a new topic of which she felt had some importance.

"Kyo."

"What is it mom?"

"I think you should get a job. I'm not going to be able to give you any sort of allowance anymore and you need to get out into the working world as soon as possible in order to get experience for the future."

Kyo rolled his eyes at this. His mom was always worried about their future. "Mom…we just moved in. Do I have to get a job right away?"

"Yes." His mother replied. "I think you should. It will help you socialize with the rest of the community and get to know everybody. It doesn't matter anyway, Kyo. I already filled out an application for you at the local supermarket."

"What! A supermarket?"

"Yes. I think it will be a good starting job for you. They told me you would be helping the cashiers bag the products as well as working with inventory."

"What? I already got the job?"

"Oh yes. Didn't I say that already? You'll be starting Saturday."

"Mom! That's tomorrow!"

"Oh heavens. That is tomorrow isn't it? Oh well, the sooner the better I suppose."

* * *

Kyo couldn't believe his mother. _I can't believe she did that without asking me first!_ He would never have agreed to a job right now. He wanted time to settle in and get used to everything. _Oh well. At least I'll be making money. It's minimum wage for sure. _He was quite frustrated and decided to lock himself in his room and draw for a while to calm down. Drawing was the one thing he liked to do. Kyo used it as a stress reliever and an escape from everyday life.

He was interrupted by a knock on his door. "Not now mom! I'm not exactly happy with you right now!" He threw a pillow at the door to show his frustration.

"Kyo…its Kisa…" Kyo instantly felt guilty. He got up and unlocked his door. He sat back down on his bed as she walked in. Kisa sat down next to him and watched him draw. "Sorry Kisa, I didn't mean to yell at you. I thought you were mom." He said, trying to explain himself. "It's okay, Kyo. I just wanted to see if you were okay. It wasn't right of mom to go and do that without asking you about it."

"Yea I know…tell me about it. And a supermarket—of all places! I'll be in contact with people 24/7 and you know as well as I do that I'm not good at dealing with people."

Kisa smiled at him. She never understood why he thought he was so bad with people. He was always so nice to her and they got along very well. Kyo never tries to get to know people or converse with them because Kisa knew that if he did, he would have a million friends by now. "I know! I'll come and visit you everyday Kyo! That way it won't be so bad. And we will get to hang out more often."

"That would be great, Kis. You could come and visit me anytime you want. But you can't interfere with my work. Mom would be so angry if I got fired within the first week or so. But I'm sure I could find time to talk to you if you came. Anything would be a break from something as boring as being a bag boy or taking inventory."

* * *

BARRIINNGG!

Kyo's alarm went off for the third time. He had continuously hit the snooze button so his 10 o'clock alarm was now a 10:30 alarm. _Fine. I'll get up already._ He had to be at work at eleven and he hadn't even showered yet. He took a quick shower and got dressed. It was a requirement to wear khaki pants to work, which wasn't a problem for Kyo because he usually wore khaki pants anyway. He threw on a polo shirt and headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Kyo! You're supposed to be at work in 15 minutes and you haven't even eaten yet!" His mother yelled. She had pancakes sitting at his place at the kitchen table.

"Sorry Mom. My uhh...alarm didn't go off. Thanks for the pancakes." Kyo said as he sat down to eat.

"Please, Kyo. Don't bother lying. I was upstairs when your alarm went off the _first_ time. You need to be more responsible if you want to make money and keep your job." She couldn't stay mad at him, however and she playfully patted him on the back and told him to get to work. Kyo was able to take the car because his mom had off on the weekends so he jumped in and quickly drove to the supermarket.

The clock hit 10:55 as he was parking the car and he grabbed his keys and wallet and scrambled out of the car and into the store as quickly as he could. The store was already bustling with the neighborhood folk. _Man…how do these people get up this early in the morning?_ He searched around for the manager. He found the main office quickly and walked in to find the man himself sitting at the desk.

"Hi, I'm Kyo. I'm supposed to start working today."

"Oh hello there." The manager said smiling. "Your mom told me a lot about you and I'm hoping you can live up to her wonderful account of you."

Kyo blushed. "Uhh…I'm sure that won't be a problem, sir."

"Well follow me. I'll show you around and explain your duties." With that, the manager got up out of his chair and began to show Kyo around the supermarket.

"There's not much to show you, Kyo. I'm sure you've been in a supermarket before and I assure you that this one is no different. Now, on the weekends you will be taking inventory so I'll show you that first. They walked through double doors into a backroom near the deli counter. The room was full of cardboard boxes filled with various products.

"Now," The manager began as he pulled out a clipboard from a shelf on his left. "Here is the list of the things you will be in charge of accounting for. All you have to do is count how many there are of each item in this backroom at the beginning of each day, and then again at the end so we can see how many we've gotten rid of each day. It's simple enough; I think you can handle it. But if you have any questions, Todd will be here to assist you."

"Todd!" The manager yelled. A boy about Kyo's age, maybe older, came out from behind one of the far shelves. "Todd, this is Kyo. This is his first day and you two will be working inventory together. Now Kyo, Todd has been here for almost a year now so don't hesitate to ask him if you have any questions."

Todd reached out his hand and introduced himself to Kyo. Kyo returned the handshake graciously. _He seems alright. At least I don't have to work with some lazy jackass or some mean guy._ "I'm sure you two will get along famously." The manager said smiling.

"Now Kyo, as I said. You will only be doing this on the weekends. Now during the weekdays you will help the cashiers bag the products for the customers. Come and I will show you how all that works."

Todd said goodbye and Kyo nodded in response as he and the manager walked from the room. _This guy seems pretty nice too. It shouldn't be too bad here after all._ Kyo thought rather happily as they walked towards the front of the store where the cash registers were.

"This job is quite simple as well, Kyo." The manager said as he walked behind one of the registers. "The cashier will slide the products back to you after she scans them and you just have to place them in the bags and put the bags into the cart if there is one. Each day you will be assigned a register number and that will be your job." He said with a smile. "Don't worry though, you will have a break every 2 hours for about 15 minutes so you won't be standing all that time."

Just then, a girl who worked at the store walked by and the manager quickly called her over. She turned around to walk over to them but froze halfway. Kyo's eyes went wide. _Ahh shit._

"Tohru? Tohru!" The manager exclaimed. "Come over here." Tohru blinked surprisingly and quickly walked towards them. "Uhh…I'm very sorry sir. I guess I was a little out of it just then." Kyo looked at the floor and shuffled his feet.

"Now Kyo, Tohru has been working here for over 2 years now and she is one of our best and most helpful employees. If you need any help or have any questions while you're here, you can just ask her." Kyo nodded, trying not to look at Tohru. _Of all people to be working here, it had to be her. She probably hates me since I never talk to her._ _This sucks…_

_

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A/N: Just a little something to keep you satisfied till I think of what to write next! I hope you like it. Things should start to get interesting from here now that they have to work together! Haha! Oh and I put all that stuff about Kyo's background and family cuz it will be important in the story and plus, its better if you know more about the characters cuz you will understand them more! Yea! Till next time!


	4. A New Start

**A/N: Hello again everybody. Thanks for reviewing if you did! And if you didn't…I shake my fist at you! Ha…just kidding. Anyway, here's the next chappy…enjoy!**

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_I can't believe she works here! And not only that…I'm probably going to have to work _with_ her at some point. Oh man…She probably thinks I'm a jerk. She introduced herself to me in front of the manager and I couldn't even say anything. So now the manager probably thinks I am disrespectful…Grr._

"Dude?"

_What was my mom thinking; making me work at a supermarket! What was she thinking making me work anywhere?_

"Dude!"

Kyo blinked, realizing that he had been standing there for the past ten minutes just staring at an empty shelf. He turned around and saw Todd looking at him oddly. Kyo had returned to the backroom with Todd after the manager introduced him to Tohru. _Man, Todd probably thinks I'm crazy or something._

"You alright man?" Todd asked curiously.

"Oh…yea…sorry. I was deep in thought there for a minute." Kyo replied.

"Oh really?" Todd said with a smirk. "About what?"

"Oh…uh…I was just trying to figure out how many more…umm…jars of peanut butter we need…" Kyo lied as he scratched the back of his head nervously.

Todd just smiled and shook his head. "Yea…sure. You know, Kyo. You can talk to me about stuff. It's not like I'm going to tell anybody. We need to get to know each other better anyway since we're going to be working together from now on."

_Yea…I guess he's right. I'm going to need someone to talk to eventually. He at least seems trustworthy._ Kyo just nodded and they soon found themselves telling one another their life stories. Apparently, Todd had graduated high school last year and was doing this job to help pay for college.

"So come on," Todd started. "Tell me what you were thinking about so long when you were staring at that shelf."

A blush formed across Kyo's face but disappeared quickly when he realized what he was doing. _How am I supposed to tell him that I was thinking about some random girl. He's going to think that I have like a crush on her or something. Which I don't!_ He reminded himself.

"Uh oh. I saw that." Todd said with a laugh. "Must be something good."

"Well. You are going to get the wrong idea, but I was thinking about this girl who I just found out worked here." Kyo stated. Todd kind of chuckled and urged Kyo to continue. "She goes to my school, and everyday she tries to talk to me like we're friends or something. She comes over to my lunch table every single day and asks me to sit with her and her friend."

"Okay…what's the problem then?" Todd asked.

"Well. I never talked back to her because I was just annoyed and wanted to be left alone. Everytime she asked to sit together at lunch, I just ignored her until she got the picture. And now that I have to work with her, I'm kind of regretting it because she probably hates me now." Kyo said with a sigh.

"Ah. I see." Todd replied. "Just sit with her then man."

"What?"

"Well, if you feel like you've screwed up, then just sit with her next time she asks you. Seems pretty simple to me."

"Well what if she doesn't ask me to sit with her again?" Kyo asked. "Tohru didn't seem very happy with me when the manager introduced us a couple hours ago."

"Dude, the girl you are talking about is Tohru? The cashier girl?" Todd laughed. "Man, I've been trying to get that girl to go out with me for like 2 months and she snubs me everytime. Ha! Good luck with that man."

* * *

"Hello Mam. Would you prefer paper or plastic?" Tohru asked the customer with a smile. It had been over an hour since she had seen Kyo, but she couldn't stop thinking about their awkward encounter. _I can't believe I embarrassed myself like that in front of the manager. I was just so shocked to see Kyo standing there, and I could tell by his facial expression that he was just as surprised to see me. _

"Hello, sir. Paper or Plastic?"

Tohru wasn't sure whether the fact that Kyo was now working here was a good thing or a bad thing. _This is a chance for us to become friends and get to know eachother better. But…I don't think he wants to be my friend considering the way he always acts around me. I bet he's cursing to himself right now about how much of a bother it will be to work with me. _

"Excuse me, miss. Could you hurry it along here. I have somewhere I need to be soon."

Tohru came out of her thoughts, realizing that she had been standing there with a can of soup in her hands for who knows how long. _My gosh, Tohru. Pull yourself together. Why are you getting so distressed over some guy. He doesn't even want to be your friend._ She battled with herself in her head for the rest of the day on what to do about Kyo. _I'll call Haru tomorrow since I'm off on Sundays and see what he thinks about it._

She decided that this was the best solution since she was tired of getting so worked up about it. The store closed at 9, and Tohru signed out and left the supermarket. On her way out, she saw Kyo turn his car on. He heard the door close and looked up at her. They both froze for a couple seconds, not really sure what to do. Tohru even forgot where her car was parked. Once she remembered, she quickly headed toward it, looking for anyway to break their gaze.

_Oh man._ She thought to herself as she slammed her car door shut. _That was so awkward. Is it going to be like this forever?_

_

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_

Kyo turned the key and unlocked the front door to his house. He walked in quietly and found some leftover dinner that his mom had left him to heat up. Kyo did so immediately, realizing how hungry he was. After he ate, Kyo decided to sit down on the living room sofa and watch some television. There was just one problem though. Whenever he found a channel he liked and starting watching it, his thoughts would wander to earlier when he had seen Tohru outside the market.

_I just stared at her…for like 5 minutes!_ That was how long it seemed to Kyo. He had just turned on his car when he heard the supermarket door close. When he looked up, there she was. She had immediately noticed him there and their eyes had locked for what seemed like forever. _It was so awkward. I should have at least waved or something. _Kyo's thoughts were interrupted by a tap on his shoulder.

"Are you okay, Kyo?"

He turned and saw that Kisa was sitting next to him on the sofa. She was staring at him with a confused look on her face.

"Huh?" Kyo said, trying to understand her question. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I tried calling your name a couple times, but you never even flinched." Kisa stated. "I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. How was your first day of work, Kyo? Mama wouldn't let me visit you today. She says that I can go on Tuesday when she does her weekly grocery shopping."

"Oh, it's okay, Kis. I wouldn't have been able to see you today anyway. I work in the backroom on the weekends. But on Tuesday, I should be up front by the cash registers…bagging food." Kyo explained. "And my first day was fine. Just a boring old supermarket…nothing out of the ordinary to talk about…"

* * *

Tohru woke up early that day. To her surprise, she had slept really well. She had trouble getting to sleep at first because of the numerous thoughts running through her mind from the day's work, but she eventually drifted off. Tohru desperately wanted to call Haru right away and ask his advice, but it was only 8 o'clock, and she knew Haru wouldn't even start moving until at least 11.

Tohru smiled at this thought. She remembered when she had called him one morning at around 9 o'clock last year. The phone rang 7 times before he picked up and she could barely understand anything he was saying due to how tired he was. She had wanted to know what the English homework was because she couldn't remember and he was mad at her for the rest of the week. She learned her lesson, and therefore decided to call him at noon.

To pass the time, Tohru did her homework and she began with her daily chores. She vacuumed and dusted the entire house in just over an hour. Tohru found herself gazing at the clock every five minutes or so. _Why does time always pass slower when you want it to go by fast?_ She sighed. It was only a little past eleven so Tohru decided to make some breakfast for Hiro, knowing that he would be up soon.

As she was cooking the eggs, Hiro walked downstairs rubbing his eyes with his forearm. Tohru quickly put the eggs on a plate, poured a glass of orange juice, and set the meal in front of Hiro's seat at the kitchen table.

"Don't think that I'm going to do something for you just because you made me breakfast. I didn't ask you to so I'm not obligated to do anything in return. I hope you know that because I'm not going to." Hiro said in his usual, annoying voice.

Tohru just laughed. _I can't believe he knows the word "obligated" at his age._ She had grown used to her brother's attitude since he was in 3rd grade so his rudeness didn't bother her one bit. "Calm down, Hiro. I'm just being nice, that's all. Plus, I'm trying to pass the time as quickly as possible."

It was now quarter of twelve. Tohru was tired of waiting. _I'm sure he's up by now. And if he's not, then he should be so I have every right to call him._ She ran upstairs to her room, plopped down onto her bed, and picked up her phone. Haru's cell phone number was programmed into her speed dial because Tohru was the sort of person to easily forget things, such as phone numbers.

"Hello, Haru?"

"…Tohru? Is that you?"

"Yea. It's me. Haru, it's almost noon for Pete's sake. Get up! I need to talk to you."

Tohru heard a groan through the receiver, and she smiled to herself. _I can't believe he was still asleep._

"Okay, Okay! Hold on a sec, let me at least throw a shirt on or something real quick."

"What? Why? It's not like I can see you from here."

She heard ruffling in the background, assuming it was Haru attempting to put on a shirt as quickly as possible. Tohru started to whistle the Jeopardy theme song.

"Alright, alright. What's up Tohru?"

"Well." Tohru hesitated a second, not sure how to start. "Remember how I told you there was going to be a new kid starting work at the supermarket? The manager pulled me aside yesterday to introduce me to him yesterday and I almost died of shock. You'll never guess who it was."

"No. But I'm sure you are going to tell me." Haru replied sarcastically.

"Kyo Sohma! Of all people. I completely lost my composure. The manager had to yell my name a couple of times before I snapped out of my daze. And Kyo looked as if he wanted nothing to do with me. I'm starting to think that trying to become friends with him wasn't such a good idea. I need your advice. Do you think I should stop trying?"

"Hmm…that's kind of funny that you guys work together."

"Haru!"

"Okay! I don't know, Tohru. It's not like you to give up or anything…even people. I think that you should give him one more chance. Maybe after he found out that you were going to be co-workers, he realized that he should probably be a little nicer to you."

"Okay…so what should I do? Keep trying to talk to him?"

"How about this. Tomorrow at lunch, ask him if he wants to sit with us again. And if he still refuses, then it probably is a hopeless case and I think you will be better off without him."

"Okay. Thanks, Haru. Go back to sleep…you sound awful." Tohru giggled. She let out a sigh as she hung up the phone. _I guess one more shot won't hurt right? Maybe Haru's right. Maybe he has changed his mind about me. _She suddenly remembered the look Kyo had given her outside the supermarket. _Then again maybe not…_

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Monday came way too quickly to Tohru. The lunch bell had just rung and she and Haru were on their way to lunch. _Don't worry, Tohru. Even if he refuses, it's not like it will be the first time. Plus if he does, then you can put him out of your mind forever and just move on._ She kept telling herself that. For the first time, she was actually scared to talk to him. Tohru had this really bad feeling that he hated her and thought she was an annoying, bothersome person.

They sat down at their usual table and Haru went to go buy lunch. Tohru watched Haru walk into the lunch line before she looked around for the table Kyo normally sat at. Her eyes found him quickly. _Okay Tohru. This is it. _Tohru stood up where she was and took two steps towards Kyo's table when she realized that he had gotten up and was now walking in her direction.

Kyo walked right up to her, lunch in hand, and said, "If the offer is still good, I'd uhh…like to sit with you guys today…I mean if that's okay with you and all." Kyo scratched his head nervously as he talked to her. Tohru was in a state of complete shock. She didn't even know what to say. Realizing that he was staring at her, waiting for an answer, Tohru smiled.

"Sure, I'd love it if you sat with us today." _Maybe things are changing after all!_

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**A/N: Man, this was my longest chapter yet. And nothing even really happened. Sorry about the lack of excitement by the way, but it will come soon enough. Oh. By the way…This story has had 96 hits…and guess how many reviews…13! Come on people! All I need is a "Great Job", or you can even tell me that you don't like something but at least review! Please! Lol its not like me to beg. Anyhow, next chapter will switch to Kagura and Yuki with a few surprises along the way.**

**R&R please! Thank you!**


	5. The Start of Something

**A/N: Ok so I know its been forever so feel free to curse at me if you want. But ever since school started I have been booked with homework and sports and such. I'm sorry! But yea I know last time I said this one is going to be with Kagura and Yuki but I think I might save that one for a little bit later. I'm not sure what this chapter is going to be about cuz I haven't written it yet but hopefully you'll like it!**

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Kyo walked home after school with a grin plastered to his face. He didn't know why, but he couldn't stop smiling. Lunch with Tohru was great and he found out that she was right. It's much better to eat with people then sitting by yourself. She was a very outgoing person, which he already knew, but her constant happiness was contagious. Whenever she smiled, he found himself smiling too.

He had to go to work in less than an hour so he started on his homework as soon as he reached his bedroom. _I hate having to do homework this early. Damn job._ Yet as much as he said he disliked it, Kyo actually looked forward to his job. It was fun for him, not to mention the fact that Tohru would be there. _Concentrate Kyo!_ He scolded himself. No matter what he did, his thoughts always seemed to wander back to her. _You're just happy to have a friend that's all. _

He looked at his watch and it read quarter till three. _Work here I come!_ Kyo found himself rushing to get out the door. _What am I so excited about?_ He pretended not to know the answer as he changed into his work clothes and headed out the door. As he shut the door behind him, he looked up and froze.

_Where's the car?_

Kyo's eyes grew wide. _I completely forgot that mom works on weekdays! Shit what am I going to do?_ He looked at his watch again—5 of. _Shit!_ He repeated to himself. Kyo started to run in the direction of the supermarket. _There's no way I'm going to get there on time._ Although the supermarket was not very far by car, it was a good 5 blocks on foot. He started to sprint as fast as he could and let out a sigh of relief as the store came into view. He ran to the doors and entered panting.

Putting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath, Kyo looked up. The manager was walking towards him. Kyo looked at his watch. 4 after. _Shit!_ He stood up and took a deep breath, preparing himself for the worst.

"What happened, Kyo?" The manager asked, slightly irritated, "Why are you late?"

Kyo, still out of breath, tried to fumble for an excuse, but came up short. "I…I..uhh.."

"Oh my god Kyo I am so sorry!" He heard a voice say off to his left. The manager looked over as Tohru ran towards them. Kyo had a very puzzled look on his face. Tohru winked at him as she turned to the manager.

"It's my fault, sir. I told Kyo I would pick him up but I completely forgot since its not usually part of my schedule." She said pleadingly.

The manager, finding it hard to punish his best employee, let it slide. "Well, thank you for admitting it Tohru. I always reward honesty and so I'm going to pretend it didn't happen." He said with a smile and walked off.

Kyo could have hugged her at that moment. She turned to him and smiled. "Come on, I need a baggage boy." She giggled. Kyo couldn't help but smile at her and they returned to her register together.

"Thanks for doing that, Tohru. You didn't have to. I appreciate it." Kyo blushed. She flashed him a smile.

"Don't worry about it. That's what friends do. We are friends now, aren't we?" She asked. Tohru wasn't really sure if they were considered friends yet. She had been wondering about it all day. They had seemed to get along great at lunch and during English class. To her, it sort of felt like they had been friends the whole time.

"Umm. Yea. We are friends." Kyo replied. He heard a sigh of relief come from Tohru and he smiled.

"Hey if you ever need a ride, just ask. I can pick you up whenever you need it." She offered hopefully.

Kyo scratched his head as he always did when he got nervous. "Umm…yea that'd be great. My mom needs the car on weekdays for her job. I guess I just sort of forgot about it today."

"It's no problem." She smiled at him as they went back to doing their jobs. _I'm so glad everything is working out. He seems like a really nice guy._ Tohru found herself unable to stop smiling all day. They had become friends so fast and she couldn't really believe it. For the first time since school started, she felt like everything was fitting into place. Everything was good.

* * *

Kyo laid down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He couldn't sleep. He couldn't say why, though secretly he knew. _I can't stop thinking about this girl. What is wrong with me? We've only been friends for a day. _ He smiled as he thought about they're evening together. Work was fun for him now and he looked forward to it. She had dropped him off afterwards because he didn't have a ride home.

"_Is this your house, Kyo?"_

"…_Yea." _

"_It's so cute!" She had said smiling as she looked at their tiny home. _

"_Uhh…thanks." Kyo had gotten out of the car with some reluctance._

"_See you in school tomorrow!" Tohru had said with a wave as she drove off._

She was different from anyone he had met before. He had been embarrassed when she asked about his house, but when she replied the way she did, he couldn't help but smile. Kyo had thought she would think of differently because of his house but it seemed to have absolutely no effect on her. She had said it was "cute" even.

Kyo looked over towards his window. It was a new moon tonight he realized after he had searched for it for some time. His thoughts wandered as he stared into the night sky. Although he refused to admit it to himself, this girl was starting to change him.

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Tohru turned on the radio as she drove home from Kyo's house. As she did, the song, "Why Can't I," came on. _I can't believe this whole day happened! Kyo and I are actually friends now! Who would of thought?_ She was very excited at how things were starting to finally go her way. The fact that her first week of school was so bad didn't even matter to her anymore.

_Why Can't I breathe whenever I think about you…_

_Why Can't I speak whenever I talk about you…_

The words to the song went through her head as she hummed along with the tune. She was going to be hanging out with Kyo all week and she was excited. They would see each other all the time every single day. Tohru didn't know why, but she felt a fuzzy feeling go through her as she remembered the day's events.

She fumbled for her keys as she reached the door. _Calm down Tohru. What is wrong with you?_ Finally she found her keys and unlocked the door to the house. She walked inside and set her keys down on the kitchen table. Taking off her work apron, Tohru put it in the washer as she routinely did so that it would be clean again tomorrow. It was 9 o'clock and Tohru was exhausted.

She made her way to her room quietly so as not to wake her grandfather. Hiro was always up until 10 no matter how often she told him to go to sleep so she didn't even worry about him. Tohru shut the door quietly behind her and walked over to her closet to pick out her clothes for the next day as she always did. Her closet doors were full-length mirrors that opened and closed as the closet did. When she walked up to it she realized that she had a huge grin on her face.

_Oh my gosh! What is wrong with me? I didn't even realize I was smiling._

Her face went red as thoughts of Kyo started pouring through her mind. _I'm never going to be able to sleep like this. My mind is going crazy._ She quickly picked out an outfit for tomorrow and laid down on her bed. Looking out her window, she realized that there was no moon tonight. _Hmm...I didn't know tonight was the new moon. _She didn't know why, but she felt it kind of symbolized something. Today was the beginning of something. She just didn't know what it was. And neither did he…

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**A/N: Okay yea I have no idea where all that came from. And I'm sorry its so short. It just has a lot of dialogue that's all. Well anyway I hope you liked it! I'm pretty sure I know what the next chappy is going to be about. I'm not gonna be able to write till next week but I might be able to get two or three chapters in then cuz its our Christmas break from school so I will probably have time. Peace! And review!**


	6. A Popular Misconception

**A/N: Okay so I know its been forever, but I'm being serious this time in that I'm going to write more often. Once A.P. Tests finish in May, I will be free as a bird to write whenever. But since I have time right now I decided to start again. I have it all planned out sort of so I know what's going to happen pretty much from here on out. Ya. So SORRY! Hope you like this chappy!**

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_Hmph. She's sitting with him again today…_

Kagura sat down at the smooth cafeteria table separated especially for her. No one else ever even dared to sit here unless they were a friend of hers. Glancing at Tohru, a grimace crossed her face. She hid it quickly, not wanting her friends to see.

"So what do you think of the new guy, Kagura?"

Her friends always asked her opinion on anything they thought worthy enough to be spoken of. She herself could really careless about the kid himself, yet the fact that he was beginning to associate himself with Tohru made her face glow red with anger.

"He's cute I guess." She replied coolly. "But we all know I'm not allowed to scope out other guys." Her friends laughed along with her at the innocent remark. She and Yuki had been a steady couple for quite some time. _Two years now_. Their relationship was by no means perfect but she couldn't let anyone else know that. Presentation was key in holding the respect of her peers. Without Yuki, she would be just another rich girl.

And that irked her beyond belief. That tiny truth hit her dead between the eyes at times. Confidence in her self was something Kagura lacked on the inside. She showed off and practically embodied authority around her classmates. Yet by herself, Kagura did not like who she was. Having Yuki had somehow made her more self-conscious and gave her the feeling that she just wasn't good enough for him.

And Tohru.

Tohru could bring their bond crashing down at any time. Just the sight of her filled Kagura with feelings of loathing. But no one knew the real reason for these emotions. None but herself.

"So how are things with Yuki and you?" one of her friends questioned.

"Oh we're fine. You know, crazy in love and all." Kagura laughed it off nonchalanty, looking for the grins on the faces of her friends for reassurance that they believed the lie. She had told it a million times in response to the same daily question. And once again, they all grinned ignorantly.

She couldn't help glancing at Tohru's table every now and then. She looked so happy with Kyo and it singed her to the bone. _Why does she get everything?_ _Everything I want._ She felt a tear buildup in her eyes and excused herself from the table in order to "get a napkin." Reluctantly, Kagura walked by Tohru's table and couldn't resist the temptation to look at them. And she regretted it as soon as she did.

They were all laughing, having a good time. A second look revealed Tohru's white-haired friend staring at her. Unable to read his face, Kagura looked away. Realizing that she had seen the boy before, she couldn't recall a time when she hadn't seen him staring at her. _Haru? Is that his name? Why is he always staring at me?_

She shrugged it off as she casually took some napkins from the container at the condiment station. Making sure no one was looking, Kagura carefully patted her eyes with one of the napkins to conceal any indication that she may have been crying. Breaking down in school would be the worst possible thing for her reputation. She refused to show weakness around other people for one wrong move or phrase could cause her to break down completely.

* * *

Tohru had learned to drown out Mr. Shigure's daily speeches about life and literature. They really were quite boring and pointless. And so she let her eyes wander throughout the classroom. Kyo's direction seemed to be a favorite of her eyes today for they stopped their frequently, followed by a quick look away and a blush would form on her cheeks.

She hadn't had so much fun flirting in the longest time. _I can't help it. He just makes me feel like giggling whenever I see him. _Trying to get her mind of of Kyo, she let her eyes roam the other students in the room. Uo next to her didn't even bother to pretend like she was listening to Mr. S. She had her head down on her desk and her breathing motions suggested she had been sleeping for some time.

Her eyes stopped on Kagura. She seemed out of her normal "I'm better than everyone" mood. In fact, she was quite out of sorts. Tohru had never seen her this down before. It was not like Kagura to be submissive. If Tohru wasn't mistaken, she thought she saw a little red in her eyes. _Was she crying?_

She had seen Kagura walk by their table at lunch today. Haru had immediately looked up of course which had brought the rich girl to Tohru's attention. She really did not know what he saw in her. She had been watching long enough to see Kagura look at them and snap her head back quickly. _ I don't understand why I bother her so much? What did I do?_

Tohru shrugged and kept scanning the classroom. Her eyes fell on Yuki almost right away for he was staring right at her. As soon as she noticed it, his head snapped back around to face Mr. S. _What was that about?_ She noticed that he and Kagura had not been as friendly toward eachother as they usually were. _I wonder if Kagura being upset has something to do with Yuki?_

Her curiosity piqued, Tohru decided to pay close attention to the couple for the next couple of days. There was something there she was missing and she knew it would bother her until she knew what it was.

Why was he staring at me?

* * *

The bell finally rang indicating the end of the school day. The students rushed out of Mr. S's class anxious to get home. It was a Friday after all. The week had gone by fast and September leaves continued to fall from the trees outside.

Yuki and Kagura were the first ones to leave the classroom. After waving goodbye to her friends, she turned to face her boyfriend. The look in his eyes that had been there when they had first started dating was now nowhere to be seen. She knew this of course, but it still upset her whenever she thought about it.

Suddenly he looked up and Kagura turned around to see Tohru, Kyo, and Haru leaving the classroom. Anger hit her first at her boyfriend's sudden motion. She didn't understand any of it. Watching as his gaze followed that…that…girl until she was out of sight, sadness overwhelmed her. _No! Don't break down Kagura. You're going to be home in a few minutes._

With that she gave Yuki a hug and kissed him on the side of the cheek knowing that is all he would allow. She was tied to him. Needed him. And she hated it. She hated admitting that she needed anything but she did.

_Why did I do this to myself? Why did I let it get so far that I depended on him?_

She drove home somberly. This was not the first time she had driven home like this. The worst part of everything was that he knew she needed him. But the truth was, he needed her as well. Or so he thought anyway.

Pulling into the driveway of her mansion, Kagura shut the car door behind her, staring up at the house in front of her. This very house is what allowed her to gain so many "friends" as they called themselves. She knew that people used her to get money and other favors. Yet it brought her popularity. She had lived with it so long that she wasn't sure she could live without it. And she just wasn't brave enough to test it.

Everyone else wished they had all that she had. The money, the house, the friends. But the truth was, Kagura wanted nothing to do with them. Why couldn't she have been born into a normal family like most everyone else. Anger filled her again. _Why didn't I have a say in my life? And now look at me. I can't even make it five minutes without breaking down. _

She unlocked the door and walked in, set her things down, and climbed the marble staircase to her room. As soon as she hit the bed, she let loose. All the tears she had been holding in came out in a sudden rush. The truth she had known for almost a year hit her hard over and over.

Yuki was in love with Tohru Honda.

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**A/N: K so it took me forever to write this believe it or not. It actually turned out a lil different than I expected but its still good. So Read and Review! I love you guys!**


	7. A Hole in the Fabrication

**A/N: Yea so apparently I'm a liar. And I know it. I am so sorry it took forever to write again. My parents made me get a job this summer and I've been swamped. I found myself inspired the other day when I remembered about this story so here I am. There's so many chapters that I have in my head I just don't know which one to write first. I guess we'll find out when I'm done eh?**

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Yuki felt nothing as she gave him a peck on the cheek. None of the old feelings were there. They were both in the same predicament. Neither of them cared for one another anymore. Not like that anyway. Although he never showed it, it did pain him to see Kagura hurt from his behavior.

But he couldn't help it.

His eyes once again fell upon the long, brown-haired girl at the end of the hallway. He didn't know what it was about her that made him feel the way he did. But he thought about her constantly. Tohru Honda had consumed his thoughts for some time. They had been in classes together their whole lives. Yuki never really thought of her as anything other than "the nice girl who lends me pencils", yet somehow that had changed.

Last year when he and Kagura had been going through a rough phase, Tohru had found him sulking in the hallway after school one day. He remembered their conversation almost word for word:

"_Yuki? Are you alright?"_

_He looked up from his stupor to see those big blue-green eyes staring back at him with worry. Not knowing what to say, he continued to stare at her._

"_You seem really stressed out. Is something wrong? Is it Kagura?"_

_A shocked expression crossed his face at his girlfriend's name. Was it that obvious that they were falling out? Yuki looked back at her this time, anxious to keep his reputation spotless._

"_No. Not really. She's just got a lot going on right now and I'm not sure how to help her."_

_Obviously he wasn't going to reveal that it was really his fault that they were mad at each other. She had been constantly angry with him for the past week because he hadn't called her one night. One day she just went to far so he yelled at her and she had stormed out. _

"_Well I'm sure you'll think of something. You're a really great guy. Maybe she just needs some time to herself. She'll be herself again soon I'm sure. And if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here okay?"_

_He simply nodded and she had smiled and walked away._

Yuki was pretty sure she had completely forgotten about that day. But that whole week he couldn't stop thinking about how nice she was. No one had ever told him they'd be "there for him" and truly meant it. But he could tell from her eyes that she had meant every word. And soon enough, he worried less and less about Kagura and started caring more and more about Tohru. They've said few words to each other since that day, but when they did talk, he found himself falling more and more for her.

Kagura realized something was up pretty quickly though. She had confronted him about it and he had confessed his true feelings. However, after much talking, they agreed to stay together, or at least, make everyone else think they were still a couple. The truth was, they needed each other. She needed him to maintain her popularity while he needed her to keep the girls off of him. As soon as they find out Yuki Sohma is single, the girls would flock to him and he hated it. He was in no way conceited. It was plain fact. He would have no peace to talk to Tohru. So he had to find a way to "woo" her while still dating Kagura.

But that proved to be much harder than he originally expected. She was different from all those other girls. She didn't seem to be jealous of Kagura nor did she seem to realize his affection for her. But instead of dissuading him, it only made him like her more.

_Oh, what a tangled web you've woven, Yuki._ He thought to himself.

He watched Tohru exit the school with her white-haired friend and the new kid.

_Kyo._

Anger struck him at the thought of his cousin. True, they had never actually met before, but he had heard of him before from his mother. Most of his family had migrated to America. His family and Kyo's seemed to be the only ones left in Japan.

But family or no family, Kyo was a problem.

Yuki could see him starting to open up to Tohru, and she to him. And it made his blood boil to think of it. He had tried for so long to subtly win over Tohru, and Kyo comes out of nowhere to sweep her off her feet.

_Not if I can help it…_

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Haru found himself laughing as he, Tohru, and Kyo left the school building. It was somewhat forced as he had to find a way to cover the hurt expression he felt after seeing Kagura give Yuki a kiss on the cheek. Something so simple, yet it stung him on the inside. He did, however, happen to notice the lack of reaction that came from Yuki.

_He doesn't deserve her._

Haru had always wondered why it was that he liked Kagura, but he couldn't help feeling like Yuki wasn't the guy for her. For the past year or so, they never seemed genuinely happy together and it bothered him. He couldn't imagine why they would pretend to though so he always shrugged it off. Yet he always felt that he could give her something no one else could. Haru didn't know what. But something.

The hardest part was not having someone to talk to about it. Tohru was his best friend, sure. But she and Kagura weren't exactly pals and he could tell that she wasn't comfortable talking about Kagura so he respected her and didn't say anything. So he was constantly writing down his feelings in journals and the like. Books were his passion and the reason he worked at the public library in the community.

He, Tohru, and Kyo all parted ways as Haru started walking home. Kyo was a great guy and Haru liked him. But he couldn't help feeling a little jealous that he and Tohru were spending so much time together. Even now, they were headed off to work together. It just seemed like the only friend he had left was being taken away from him. Tohru would adamantly deny such a claim if he brought it up to her and so he didn't. He just wrote it down whenever he needed to vent.

Haru was torn from his thoughts when he heard the sound of a car being unlocked to his left. His heart did a little dance when he noticed it was Kagura opening her car door. She was a couple aisles over so he was pretty sure she didn't see him. _Wow…she's so pretty._ He thought admiringly. Then he noticed the look on her face. She was definitely **not **happy. His heart went out to her as he saw her wipe her eyes to get rid of the tears. She got into her car quickly and left.

Haru was left standing there with a confused expression on his face. Something was definitely up.

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**A/N: Okay so I already have an idea for the next chapter, even though I'm still not sure exactly how this story is going to end, but it's not going to be for awhile. But yea, I'm gonna start working on the next one right away and it should be up by the end of the week. I'm so sorry for the long wait.**


	8. Of Late Nights and Ice Cream

**A/N: K so I didn't even get one review yesterday even though I got a couple hundred hits. Not sure what that's about. This chapter was already written so I'm not going ot let it go to waste but I'm not going to write anymore if I can't even tell if you like the story or not. (  
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"Hi there, Mrs. Palamino. How's Sammy doing?"

Tohru always liked to ask her regulars about their family. Mrs. Palamino was an older woman in her 60's. She was a widow and lived alone with her dog, Sammy. She was such a sweet old woman and Tohru always felt sorry for her situation. Mrs. Palamino, however, was very spiritual and believed that her life worked out "the way God intended it."

"He's doing great. Thank you, Tohru." She replied with a sweet smile as Tohru rung her up.

She heard the crinkling of the plastic bags behind her as Kyo bagged all her items. A smile crept its way to across Tohru's face at the thought of him. They had been at work for 4 hours now and had been getting along great. It was hard to believe how close they had become over the course of a week. It was already Friday and she had found herself flying out the door to go to work each day.

She drove Kyo back and forth the whole week and they agreed to split the gas money between them with their paychecks. They had agreed to go out to ice cream after work today to celebrate the end of the week. They both had off on Saturday. It made Tohru rather sad though, knowing she wouldn't be seeing Kyo then. She had partially begun to admit her feelings for him to herself.

Tohru wasn't used to falling so fast for someone that it was hard for her to admit it was happening. But she didn't want to worry about it. She just wanted to enjoy it. She loved the rush she felt go through her every time he gave her his charming little smirk.

"Tohru. Kyo. It's 7 o'clock. You're off."

The manager's words made Kyo sigh with relief. His feet were killing him from standing all day long. He never realized how much strain it put on his arms to constantly bag things like oversized cans of soup or soda bottles. His favorite part of the day was driving home with Tohru. He didn't realize it until now, but they had spent almost all their time together this week with school and work.

And to be honest, it was the most fun he'd ever had. He had been excited to go to school and work all week knowing he would be spending time with her. Unlike Tohru, Kyo no longer denied the fact that he had feelings for the girl. He didn't really want to deny it. It had been the first time he had ever felt this way about someone and he lived for the feelings he got when around her.

"It's ice cream time, Kyo!" Tohru exclaimed excitedly.

He flashed a grin at her and she felt it down to her toes as she blushed. He had completely forgotten about the ice cream. But any excuse to spend more time with Tohru was definitely all right with him.

They both unfastened their work aprons and tossed them in the backseat of Tohru's car as they got in. The ice cream shop was only a couple blocks away so they arrived within five minutes. Kyo realized just how hungry he was as they got out and began walking towards the store. He heard his stomach rumble and immediately blushed hoping Tohru hadn't heard. But he heard a small giggle and knew it wasn't true.

Looking over at her he saw her with her hand over her mouth to hide her laughter. He pushed her playfully on the shoulder and she laughed openly. He couldn't help but smile at her of course. She was just too cute to stay mad at.

"I'm Sorry, Kyo. I couldn't help it." Tohru smiled as she started to calm down.

"I haven't eaten since we left school. I guess I just didn't realize how hungry I was."

They entered the back of the line as they reached the ice cream shop. Apparently a lot of people had the same idea they had. It was still kind of hot out seeing as how it was still the beginning of September so it wasn't too surprising. Tohru recognized most of the people from their small town at the shop.

Finally, they reached the front of the line. Right away Tohru recognized the lady behind the counter as her next-door neighbor, Mina, who graduated high school last year. They weren't exactly friends but they acknowledged each other and smiled whenever they ran into one another. What Mina said made Tohru go red from ear to ear.

"Oh my god! You never told me you had a boyfriend! He's so cute!"

_Oh my gosh. _Tohru shut her eyes. _Please tell me she did not just say that. _After realizing that she did in fact ask if Kyo was her boyfriend, Tohru jumped to remedy the mistake.

"Oh, no no no. We're just friends, Mina. This is Kyo. Kyo, this is my neighbor, Mina."

Kyo's face was even redder than Tohru's. He hadn't known what to say so he looked at Tohru after the initial comment and she had apparently been just as shocked as he was. Kyo nodded to Mina in recognition, still at a loss for words. Mina simply smiled back knowingly. He somehow got the feeling that she knew how he felt about Tohru just from this littler interlude.

"So what can I do you for?"

"I'll just have vanilla on a waffle cone, Mina." Tohru replied.

Kyo looked up and down the list of choices, trying to find what he wanted to eat. He could hear frustrated sighs from the people behind them since they were taking so long to order. He felt bad so he just ordered the first thing he saw.

"Umm… I'll take the brownie sundae with gummi bears please."

Tohru giggled at the way Kyo said gummi bears. It seemed like such a kiddy ingredient to order. He heard her laugh and looked over at her with a confused look on his face. She dismissed it by moving her hand as if to say "nevermind" and he just shrugged it off. Mina handed them their ice cream, and they paid separately as if to prove to her that they were not a couple.

They walked over to an empty bench underneath one of the trees off to the side of the shop. It was a beautiful night. Tohru hadn't noticed before. There was a cool summer breeze and the sun was starting to set behind the trees. She and Kyo sat in silence for a couple of minutes just enjoying the night, but eventually Tohru started talking.

"Sorry about my friend, Mina, over there. She has a hard time keeping her opinions to herself."

"Don't worry about it. She seems like a nice girl."

"Yea…"

An awkward silence fell between them. _Why is this so weird all of a sudden?_ Tohru wondered. If only they hadn't seen Mina. It wouldn't be like this. _Why does it even matter what she said? It's not like it was true or anything._ She couldn't help glancing at Kyo at the thought. _No matter how much I wish it was…_

He looked extremely cute at that moment, staring out into space. She wondered what he was thinking about. Tohru was suddenly overcome with the urge to plop her ice cream cone on top of his head. And before she could stop herself, Kyo felt a trickling of ice cream go down the back of his neck.

Tohru gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. _Oh my god._ Overcome with laughter, she let out a loud giggle. Kyo, shocked at her actions, shoved his sundae into her face. She immediately stopped laughing and just stared at him incredulously. Kyo, realizing what had just happened, immediately moved to apologize to her but she beat him to it by giving him a hard push off the bench.

Feeling flirtatious, Tohru quickly got up and ran across the grass towards the woods, laughing as she went. Kyo picked himself up off the ground, and ran after her playfully. She was no match for him and he caught up to her within seconds. Tohru yelped as she felt his arms wrap around her waist and her feet leave the ground. He picked her up and swung her around. She started slapping at his arms giggling.

"Put me down, Kyo!"

After a few more seconds he obeyed and put her down. She turned to face him and smiled noticing that the ice cream cone was still on his head. He smiled back because she still had ice cream on her nose and cheeks as well.

_Gosh. She's still beautiful even with ice cream all over her face._

"What?" Tohru asked as her eyes went wide.

_Oh no. Did I just say that out loud?_ Kyo felt his face burn up as all the blood rushed to his head.

"You think I'm beautiful, Kyo?"

Kyo saw those big eyes staring up at him and he was speechless. _What am I supposed to say? Way to go, Kyo._ He said to himself. He had nothing left to do but tell her the truth. _There's no going back now._

"Yes…" He replied looking down at the ground

Tohru couldn't help smiling at his answer. No one had ever said that to her since her mother died. Could it be possible that he liked her as much as she liked him? And then she did the only thing she could think of at that moment. Stepping closer to him, Tohru reached up and grabbed the ice cream cone off his head with a smile on her face, causing Kyo to look at her once more. Then she put it on her own head.

"How about now?" She asked smiling.

He couldn't help but grin at her goofiness. "Yep. You look good enough to eat." He said playfully.

"Good. That's what I wanted to hear."

And with that, she leaned in and touched her lips to his. It was her first real kiss. The sensation of their lips touching was even better than she'd imagined. She tugged playfully on his bottom lip and she felt him smile as he kissed her back. His hand found its way to her cheek as he tilted her head slightly to gain better access to her mouth. The movement caused ice cream from her nose to rub off on his face and he felt her giggle into the kiss. To Tohru, the kiss couldn't have been more perfect, even with the ice cream cone still on her head.

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**A/N: K so this is probably one of my favorite chappies so far. I hope you like it too. I'm on a writing craze. I wrote this the same night as the previous one. But I didn't feel like posting it right away. But I would like at least 3 or 4 reviews this time. Just so I know whether people like it or not. Cuz I'm not gonna keep going if you hate it.**


	9. A Common Escape

**A/N: K so thank you if you did review! And to those of you who didn't but are just reading the story, you better thank those who did or you wouldn't be reading this next chappie! But I still love you for reading anyway ). I know I keep switching back a forth between people but I'm going for character development, and since I don't actually know how this story is going to end, it gives you something to read until I figure it out. And I'm trying not to make the chapters as long as my last story cuz I know they can be a pain to read sometimes. Enjoy!**

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Haru sat in the empty library on Saturday night with his nose in a book. He had the closing shift today and he was the only one there. He had worked there for almost 2 years now so the manager trusted him with the store. It was around 7:30 meaning he had a half hour left to go before he could leave.

He had spent the majority of the time working on the English paper they were assigned to write over the weekend. They simply needed to pick a classic from the list they were given and read it and be prepared for discussion on Monday. The library was closed on Sundays so Haru decided to just get it over with today since no one was there.

Tohru had called him early that morning, waking him up yet again, to retell the events of the previous day. He really was happy for her that she had finally kissed Kyo. It still amazed him that she was surprised to find out how he felt about her. It was obvious to everyone else around them. That always seems to be the case when people like each other like that though. Their flirtatious behavior all week was almost sickening. Mostly because he envied her.

Haru wanted to have something like that—someone who cared about him as much as he cared about her. He sighed as he turned the page. He had pretty much accepted the fact that it just wasn't going to happen to him but it didn't make it any less painful to see Tohru and Kyo together. His thoughts drifted to Kagura as he thought about that day in the parking lot. He had paid closer attention to her this week trying to figure out what was going on.

The only word he could think of to describe her look was tired. All week her eyes had seemed a bit puffy, as if she had spent all her nights crying her eyes out. But he had overheard her deny it when one of her friends asked her about it.

"Oh no. I'm just tired that's all." She said with a fake smile. 

To him, she still looked just as pretty without all her eye makeup on. Not that she would ever know that. But it was true. She was just like Tohru in the sense that they were both naturally pretty. Haru's thoughts were interrupted as his watch alarm went off telling him it was time to close shop. He stretched his arms lazily as he let out a soft yawn. _Finally_. He grabbed the set of keys to the library from his desk and headed towards the door. It was dark out by this time. Haru flicked off the lights and walked outside, closing the door behind him. He turned around to lock the door but was stopped by a voice.

"Wait! Please don't close that door!"

Wait a minute…I know that voice… 

Haru turned around and was greeted with the worry-filled face of none other than Kagura. To say he looked shocked would be an understatement. He had never expected to see someone like her at a library, especially not this time of night. Haru couldn't help blushing as he looked her over. She just looked so cute in her designer get-up with her big, dark eyes staring at him in earnest.

"Haru. Please let me in. I promise I won't be long. I just need to get a book for the English assignment and then I'll be out of your way. Please!"

Kagura didn't even care that she was begging. She needed to get this assignment done. It was their first big project and she couldn't screw it up or Mr. S would never take her seriously. And despite her girly-girl pretense, she really was a smart girl. And English was her best subject. Her mom wouldn't allow anything less than an 'A' from her perfect daughter. She had planned to go to the library tomorrow, but remembered at the last minute that it wasn't open on Sundays.

_She knows my name?_

Haru was in complete shock. Not only was she talking to him, but she knew his name! In fact, he was pretty sure it was the first time she had ever spoken directly to him. Her eyes were burning into his as she pleadingly gazed up at him, and he couldn't deny her.

"Umm…okay." He spoke softly, not sure exactly what else to say. He pushed the door open and held it for her. Kagura closed her eyes and let out a breath she had apparently been holding the whole time. She smiled thankfully at him and walked in. Haru followed behind her and reached up his left hand to flick on the lights.

Kagura let out a small gasp. She hadn't been in the library in ages. Her house had its own library of sorts so she never came here unless she truly needed to. But this library seemed so huge when they were the only ones in it. The truth was, she loved to read. Books were her escape from the mess that was her life. Of course, her personal collection included mostly teen novels about girls finding love and such—not exactly what she would consider "classics" for this assignment.

"So…did you have anything particular in mind?"

She jumped at the sudden noise and she whirled around to face Haru. She had almost forgotten she wasn't alone. From the look in his eyes, he seemed like he genuinely wanted to help her. Yet she really had no idea what book she was going to get. She had been in such a rush to get here that she hadn't really had time to think about what she wanted to read.

"Umm…not exactly." Kagura replied rather embarrassed. She felt bad having to keep him here longer while she tried to find a book.

"Oh…well, do you want me to show you the classics section then? That way you can browse around there?"

Kagura blinked, rather surprised. He didn't even seem upset about the fact that he had to stay here longer.

"Yea. That'd be great." She said with a smile.

Haru led her towards the back of the library to the area labeled "Classics" in big, bold letters. The selection wasn't exactly huge, but there were still plenty of books for her to choose from. Personally, he had pretty much read all of them in his spare time. He looked over at Kagura to find her looking at the books with an awed expression on her face. _ I can't believe I'm actually here with her right now. _She felt his stare and turned to look at him, and he quickly turned to look at his books to hide the red forming on his cheeks.

"So which one did you read?" He heard her ask.

"Well, I've read most of these already. So I tried to find one I hadn't read yet and I ended up reading Wuthering Heights. _Not_ one I would recommend by the way." He said as a smirk formed on his face and he looked at her. "Not unless you feel the need to become overly depressed. It's definitely not a 'happily ever-after' kind of book."

_Well I'm definitely _not _in the mood to become overly depressed._ She thought to herself. That was probably the last thing she needed. Looking over at Haru, she couldn't help noticing that he was actually kind of cute when he smiled. _I can't believe he's read most of these books. There must be like 50 of them just in this section_.

"You really like books then huh?" She asked him curiously.

"Yeah. That's why I work here. Books are my little escape from reality. Whenever I'm upset, I can just pick up a good book and forget about life for awhile." His finger traced across the bindings of the books as he spoke.

Kagura's eyes went wide as she heard him mimic her earlier thoughts aloud. They were an escape for him too. _What could he possibly need to escape from?_ She felt a sudden need to know his life story. _His life couldn't be any worse than mine._ Yuki's face popped into her mind and she quickly shooed it away. She realized that she hadn't thought about him once since arriving here.

"Are you alright?"

She looked up at him surprised. Worry was sketched across his features.

"What? Oh, I'm fine. Just thinking that's all." She paused for a moment, trying to think up a way to change the subject. "I agree with you, though. About books I mean. I find myself picking up a book whenever I feel sad or need to stop thinking about life." She noticed the somewhat shocked expression on his face and it made her smile.

"Shocking, huh?"

Haru blinked, not realizing his face had been that readable. He scratched his head nervously before replying.

"Well, you know. I just didn't see you as a book kind of person. I guess I should take my own advice and not 'judge a book by its cover'. I didn't mean to offend you." He said, kicking himself silently.

Kagura couldn't help smiling at his pun.

"No. It's okay. I think most people see me the same way you do." Her mouth formed into a sorrowful smile. "As a high-maintenance, rich girl who has everything she could ever want but takes everything for granted." She paused. "Not that some of that isn't true. I mean, I am wealthy, but I wish everyone wouldn't judge me right away."

"I never said that." Haru said plainly, making Kagura look at him with a confused expression.

"I don't think you're the stuck-up snob everyone thinks you are. Not everyone sees you the way you think they do, Kagura. After reading Pride and Prejudice, I've learned not to judge people right away. In fact, you should read it. And it's a classic so you'll be killing two birds with one stone."

_He doesn't think I'm a snob?_ She thought in disbelief.

"What's it about?"

"It's a love story between a rich man and poor woman. But it's not as simple as it sounds. Society has labeled him as a proud, snob who looks down on everything and everyone. While it is partially true, the rumors go a little overboard, but the woman eats up every word and looks at him with disdain. Eventually, the man falls in love with her, however, because she's so outspoken and different from everyone else. She brings out his kind, amiable side and eventually returns his feelings after discovering who he really is. It's a really good book."

"Okay, I'll take it."

Haru slipped the book off the shelf and guided Kagura over to the checkout counter. She sat there deep in thought as she watched his hands slide the book across the counter and heard the beep as the computer registered it. _Maybe he's right. Maybe there are people out there who don't see me that way. I guess it doesn't help that I act like a snob most of the time._ Her thoughts were interrupted by Haru's voice.

"Here you go, Kagura. It's not due back for 2 weeks so it's no rush. I think you'll really like it." He smiled at her and she found herself smiling back at him.

"Thanks Haru. For everything. I mean, for letting me in and all. I guess I'll see you at school on Monday." She walked to the door and waved back at Haru before leaving. Haru heard the little bell ring as the door closed behind her. He pinched himself on the arm to make sure he hadn't just dreamt the past 20 minutes.

_Did that really just happen?_

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**A/N: Believe it or not, I spent forever writing this chapter. So you better like it. Anyway, I hope you all review this time if you read it. They don't have to be like long or anything. Just a "Good" or "I hate you"(preferably not) will work. Anyway, I'm not sure how the next chapter is going to go, but I go back to work tomorrow and I won't be off again til Monday so you may not see another chappie til then. Unless I get inspired by some awesome review or something. Haha.**


	10. A Rose and A Chick Flick

**A/N: So you have every right to hate me!! I know I haven't written in what, like a year? I'm so sorry!! I'm on winter break right now from college and I'm so bored and I had the urge to write and remembered this story. I've read it and refreshed myself on all the goings-on and I even like outlined(a very tiny outline) the next 4 chapters so I don't lose focus! I don't even know if anyone will read this because it's been so long, but I feel like I have to finish it. Plus, it will give me something to do! So enjoy if you are reading it!**

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_6:30 p.m._

Tohru glanced at the clock on her nightstand as she stared into her closet.

_What am I going to wear??_

She had her first real date with Kyo in twenty minutes and she couldn't decide what to wear. She wanted to look cute, but not like she was trying too hard. She'd never been on an official date before, but she felt like she was overthinking her wardrobe way too much. Tired of staring at her clothes, Tohru fell back onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she thought of that night at the Ice Cream Shoppe.

She had never felt so nervous as she had when she had dropped Kyo off that night. She pulled up to his house, which prompted an awkward silence, neither of them knowing exactly how to say goodbye. _Should I kiss him?_ She had thought. _Is he going to kiss me?_ But she didn't have to think long, because as she turned to look at him, he was already inches from her face. She felt his hand caress her cheek and she felt her eyelids close as his lips met hers for the second time that night.

Tohru smiled into her sheets at the thought of kissing him again tonight. She was still a beginner but then again so was he. _I wonder if he was as nervous as I was?_ She was still kind of nervous about it, she admitted to herself, but in a good way. She couldn't wait to see him again.

_6:45p.m. Oh gosh! I only have 5 minutes to get ready!_

Tohru settled with a cute red V-neck sweater and a pair of jeans. They were only going to the movies, after all. She added a bit of mascara and began looking around the room for her purse when the doorbell rang.

_6:49p.m. He's early!_

"Just a second!" She yelled as she spotted her purse in the corner of her room near her school books.

She took one last look in the mirror, and after finally deciding she looked satisfactory, ran to the front door and opened it. Her eyes lit up. Standing before her was Kyo with a red rose in his hand. He flashed his smirk at her and a blush rose to her cheeks. _He bought me a rose!_

She reached out to take it from him but he pulled it away and shook his head.

"Not til you answer a question first."

She gave him a confused look.

"Tohru Honda, will you be my girlfriend?"

The corners of her mouth widened in an enormous grin as she nodded.

"Of course, Kyo Sohma."

Now, his grin matched hers as he handed her the rose and moved in to kiss her. The mixed feeling of nervousness and excitement hit Tohru again as his face moved toward hers, and she reached up to meet him. She melted into his kiss as her lips got used to the feeling of his. Suddenly, her lips felt cold and she realized he'd pulled away. She looked at him questioningly.

"Err, not that I want to interrupt, but we're going to be late for our movie."

Tohru couldn't help but laugh. She had almost forgot that they were supposed to be going somewhere. Part of her wished they could just stay here. She was really starting to enjoy this kissing thing. But she satisfied herself with another tiny peck on Kyo's mouth and quickly went to the kitchen to put the rose in a vase and they got into Kyo's car.

_I have a boyfriend!_

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Yuki drummed his fingers against the counter of the concession stand. He hated working on Sunday nights. The lobby of the movie theater resembled a ghost town. He half expected to see tumbleweed roll by any minute. His eyes drifted toward the clock on his register screen.

_7:01 p.m. only 59 minutes left until I can clock out._

He didn't understand why he even needed a job. His parents made enough money to buy their own island. But his dad insisted that he get out and experience the real world of making money. Or something like that anyway. Yuki had picked a job at the movies so he could get he and his friends in for free whenever they wanted. And when he started dating Kagura, it had saved him a lot of money on dates.

The thought of Kagura made his eyebrows curve slightly downward. It wasn't that she was a bad person. He enjoyed her company most of the time, but his heart no longer beat faster at the sight of her and kissing her felt more like a job than something he enjoyed. Now, Tohru was the only person who made him feel nervous and excited at the same time. And he wasn't about to let his long-lost cousin ruin his chances. She and Kyo were getting too close for comfort and Yuki had to do something soon before Kyo worked up the nerve to ask her out.

_7:10 p.m._ _I don't know why I thought I'd be the only one to fall for her. I guess I just hoped other people didn't notice her--_

Before he could finish his thought, the bell above the entrance rang signaling a customer had walked in. Yuki's heart plummeted as he saw who it was and the tray of fries he was about to eat from fell from his hands.

* * *

Tohru felt Kyo grab her hand as they walked into the movies. She looked up at him and saw a blush form across his cheeks. She gave his hand a little squeeze to reassure him that she wanted to hold his hand too. He was so cute. And now he was hers.

They heard something hit the floor in front them. Tohru looked up at met the gaze of none other than Yuki Sohma. Immediately, the image of him staring at her in English class the other day flashed into her mind. This look was different though. Those purple eyes held shock and sadness and she didn't know why, but she suddenly felt extremely vulnerable to his gaze.

He dropped behind the counter to pick up whatever had fallen and Tohru took the chance to guide Kyo to their theater.

"Hey, Tohru, you alright?" She heard Kyo ask as she practically dragged him into their movie, some new romantic comedy.

"Yea. I just don't want to miss the previews!" She lied as they found seats toward the middle.

Her heart was pounding. _Why did he have to look at me like that?_

* * *

Yuki dropped to the floor behind the counter. Anything to stop looking into those eyes. He rested his back against the inside of the counter to catch his breath. He hadn't realized he'd be holding it until now. As his mind cleared, the image of Kyo's fingers interlaced with Tohru's made him gag.

_Already? They're already dating? They've been friends for what? A week?_

He thought he'd had at least another week or two before he'd have to worry about them getting serious. He must have underestimated Kyo.

In that one instant their gaze met, he had felt like she had seen the entire last year of his life: all the talks with Kagura about their failing relationship, all the nights he'd lie awake thinking about how to win Tohru over. He'd never let himself show emotion the way he just had in front of her. It had been too much of a blow for him to cover up.

_How am I supposed to win her over now?_

* * *

Kyo couldn't help but smile as he looked over at Tohru. The main character's sister was in the hospital dying of some form of cancer and he felt her squeeze his hand. She was so engrossed in the movie, he could see tears start to form in her eyes at the sentimental moment the two characters were sharing on the screen.

_She's so cute._

He was so happy when she had agreed to be his girlfriend. He wasn't sure why he'd been so nervous, either. It wasn't like he expected her to say no. The feelings she gave him were so new and exciting. Friday night had been the best night of his life, all because he accidentally let slip his feelings for her. He had never imagined things would work out as great as they had.

And to think, just two weeks ago, he had just wanted her to leave him alone. Kyo remembered Todd's reaction to the whole thing during their conversation at work yesterday

"_So did you fix things with Tohru, dude?"_

"_Yea, I guess you could say that." Kyo hadn't been able to hold back his grin at the thought of their night at the Ice Cream Shoppe._

"_Uh oh, I know that look. Fill me in, man."_

Kyo had filled him in on the past week and the growing relationship between he and Tohru.

"_Dude! You're so lucky. So are you going to ask her out for real or what?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_You know, like make it official?"_

"_I just assumed that we were already official. I mean, we did kiss twice. It's not like she's going to go kissing other guys now."_

"_Kyo. When it comes to girls, never assume anything. They are just too damn confusing and complicated."_

After he talked to Todd, Kyo had realized he should ask Tohru on a real date and ask her to be his girlfriend.

"_So should I ask her to a movie or something?"_

"_Yea. Make it a chick flick. Makes you seem all sensitive and stuff. Girls love that."_

Kyo wasn't one for chick flicks, but this movie was actually pretty good. Corny at some parts, but good. Besides, he was spending time with Tohru, and that was worth the corniness.

The movie finally ended and Kyo looked over at Tohru and saw her rubbing her eyes, trying to hide the fact that she had cried.

"You gonna be okay?"

"What? Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Tohru, it's okay. I don't mind that you cried. It was a sad movie."

"I don't know what you're talking about Kyo."

Kyo laughed and pointed to the piled of used tissues in her lap newly revealed as the lights came back on. Tohru blushed realizing she had lost.

"Are my eyes red?"

"Not at all." He lied. "You're just as cute as you were before the movie."

Tohru smiled at this and they made their way out of theater. He saw Tohru look in the direction of the concession stand, as if she was expecting something to be there, but she must have wrote it off because they continued toward the exit.

When they got to Tohru's house, Kyo walked her to her door. They held hands on the way to the door. He was excited knowing he was going to kiss her but it still made him nervous because kissing was still new to him. They reached her door quickly and Tohru turned to him and looked at her feet with a smile on her face.

_She's nervous too. I must be her first boyfriend too._

Before the silence got awkward, Kyo took a deep breath and kissed her. His hand slid up the left side of her neck and back into her hair. He let go of her upper lip for a second and proceeded to kiss her bottom lip. She kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his waist. And after one last little peck, they parted and she walked into her house.

Kyo smiled all the way back to the car and all the way back home.

* * *

Tohru shut the door behind her quietly so as not to wake up her Grandpa or Hiro. She leaned her back against the door and let out a heavy sigh. She really enjoyed the date and especially that last kiss, but even now she still couldn't get that image of Yuki out of her mind.

_What am I missing?_

* * *

**A/N: Yay! The ending of this chappie would be probably be better if it wasn't 1:30 in the morning and if I didn't have to get up early for a dentist appt. tomorrow. But alas, I must. But I still liked writing this one! The next one is going to be kind of long too because there's going to be a lot of people involved since it's going to take place mostly in English class. And I don't have another day off til like Sunday-ish so don't expect that next chappie til late Monday maybe. Sorry to keep you waiting this long if you are reading this! I'm going to try and finish this before winter break ends!! Love you all! R&R if you can!!**


	11. Coming to Terms

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for reading the last chapter if you did! Special thanks to CurlyAngel and Angel2aDevil for reviewing! I'm not 100 sure all that's going to happen in this chapter but it normally comes to me as I type it so I'm just gonna start and see what happens. Hope you like it! **

**So I totally realized I never put a disclaimer on this story...so just so everyone knows, I don't own any of the characters. They are all figments of the great minds of the Fruits Basket People!!! Eh heh. Yep. The only thing that's mine is the storyline. **

* * *

Kagura walked into English class nervously. She knew she had to give her presentation on her book today. She waited for her name to be called as she watched the other students present their book.

The anxiety built inside of her as each student presented. She wanted to get it over with but each time Mr. S pulled a name out of the dish on his front desk, it was always someone else's.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Her foot seemed to move in rhythm with her heartbeat. She looked to her right and saw Haru smiling at her. He mouthed, _You're going to be fine_ to her and gave her a quick thumbs up. To her surprise, his words comforted her and she relaxed a little.

"Kagura Sohma."

Finally. Kagura looked once more at Haru who nodded at her and she got up and stood in front of the class, paper in hand. She looked up to start speaking but plain as day in the back of the room, she saw Yuki and Tohru—making out. She looked around at the rest of her classmates but no one else seemed to notice.

She looked at Mr. S for help but he only gave her an aggravated look, waiting for her to start her presentation. She turned back to the class and tried to focus on Haru and his reassuring smile but whenever she tried to open her mouth, her eyes flickered to Yuki and Tohru and no words came out. Yuki's hand was uncomfortably close to Tohru's chest. Sweat started dripping down Kagura's face.

She had to be imagining things. Tohru liked Kyo didn't she? Kagura could hear the clock ticking behind her and it seemed to get louder and louder with every second until suddenly…

BAAAARRIIIIIIIIINNNNGGG!

* * *

Kagura shot up out of her bed at the sound of her alarm. Breathing heavily, she looked around trying to figure out where she was as her eyes adjusted to the dark. Realizing she was safe in her room, she began to calm down and her fingers loosened their grip on her blankets. Her shirt clung to her back with sweat.

She reached over, turned off her alarm, and flicked the light switch up. _No time to analyze right now, Kagura. You need to get ready for school,_ she told herself to get her mind off the dream. She had a role to play and she couldn't screw it up.

She had trouble last week, especially toward the end, trying to keep up her persona. She didn't know why. Last week was no different than any other week, but for some reason she felt more depressed than ever. All this lying was taking its toll on her. She could barely remember why she was lying in the first place. _To keep your reputation,_ she reminded herself.

But what reputation was she keeping anyway? The snobby, rich girl who was only popular because of her money? Why would anyone want to keep that reputation? Did she even have any friends who liked her for who she really was?

_Well there is Machi._

Machi had been her best friend since they were five years old. Machi's mother had been Kagura's babysitter and she always brought Machi along. Kagura's parents had put in a good word to some of their friends for her and she was able to start her own babysitting business, which was quite successful considering the kind of people she serviced.

She and Machi had stayed good friends even after they were old enough to stay home alone. But ever since Yuki had entered her life, they had drifted apart. They still ate lunch and gossiped together, but the closer she got to Yuki, the further apart her and Machi had drifted. They never spent any time together outside of school after that. Kagura regretted that now, though Machi didn't seem to mind. _I'll have to make it up to her soon._

For now, she had to focus on her persona, even if it wasn't worth it.

"_I don't think you're the stuck-up snob everyone thinks you are."_

Haru's words rang in her ears as she admired her look in her bedroom mirror.

"_Not everyone sees you the way you think they do."_

A blush formed in her cheeks as she thought about Haru. He was so nice to her that night at the library. And he didn't have to be. She was sure she had never done anything nice for him over the years. Especially considering his best friend was Tohru Honda. She felt her stomach drop as a thought hit her.

_What if he's in love with Tohru too?_

She recomposed herself instantly. Why would that matter anyway? It's not like Haru liking Tohru would affect her in any way. Kagura let herself think of her dream for the first time since she woke up. Haru had looked at her so warmly and assuringly. He had been the only thing able to help her relax, something Yuki hadn't even tried to do in a year. Maybe her dream was trying to tell her something.

But she didn't have time to think about it because her cell phone alarm went off, letting her know it was time to leave for school.

* * *

"Kyo, STOP!" Tohru giggled.

Haru sighed.

They were sitting at their lunch table and for the past three minutes, Haru had been dealing with Kyo and Tohru being all cute-sy with each other. Kyo repeatedly tried to tickle Tohru on her stomach and she would giggle and tell him to stop, but not really mean it. It was driving Haru insane. At least they hadn't started kissing in public yet. He shuddered at the thought.

He really was happy for Tohru. He just wished they would keep all that couple stuff to themselves or something. Then again, it was Tohru's first boyfriend so he guessed she didn't even realize she was upsetting him. And it didn't help that the only reason it upset him was that it made him realize how much he wanted what she had with Kyo.

He pushed what he thought were mashed potatoes around on his lunch tray to keep himself occupied. His thoughts wandered to that past Saturday night when Kagura had surprised him at the library. He hadn't been nervous around her like he'd always imagined he'd be whenever he finally got the courage to talk to her. The fact that she loved books just made him like her even more. She had looked so cute begging him to help her out.

Absentmindedly, he glanced over at her lunch table, but when his eyes found her, they widened because he realized she was looking at him too.

* * *

Kagura's head snapped back in the direction of her friends and she put on a smile, pretending she had been listening to them the whole time. She didn't dare look back in Haru's direction. She'd rather die first. She had zoned out as one of her friends was going into detail about some dress she bought at the mall that weekend and her mind had drifted to her dream.

English class was in ten minutes and she was so nervous she couldn't even eat her lunch. She wouldn't normally be nervous. She had read the book. She knew what she was going to say. It wasn't a normal report anyway. All they had to do was give a quick summary of the plot and then relate some aspect of the book to their own life. Easy. But after her dream, she was incredibly nervous.

Seeing her boyfriend making out in the back of the room with another girl was as bad an omen as she could think of. She had looked at Tohru upon thinking this. Her and Kyo had their backs to her and she noticed they were sitting much closer together than they ever had before. Not that she took notice of such things. But then she saw Kyo put his arm around Tohru's waist.

_Wait, are they dating now? How did I miss that?_

Then a tuft of white hair across the table from Tohru caught Kagura's attention. She had to shift slightly in her seat to get a good view of his face. Haru looked incredibly bored. But there was something else in his expression as he stared at the new couple. Longing maybe? A twinge of anger hit her but she dismissed it. She'd have to pay closer attention to them now—for gossip purposes, of course.

Then Haru looked down at his food and started pushing it around with his fork. A smile came across his face and Kagura felt her pulse quicken slightly. She remembered thinking he was kind of cute when he smiled at her at the library. This time she corrected herself. _He is __very__ cute when he smiles._ _I wonder what he's thinking about._ Then, before she knew it, he was staring back at her.

And now here she was, pretending to be interested in her friend's new dress. It was pointless. He had definitely seen her looking. _Way to go, Kagura._ She fought the urge to look back at him to see what his reaction was. After what felt like the longest ten minutes of her life, the bell rang and she rushed to class.

* * *

Kagura was so happy she sat a row behind Haru in English. She didn't think she would have been able to last through the whole class without turning around to look at him if she sat in the front row like he did.

Machi was presenting. A sorrowful expression crossed Kagura's face. Prior to this morning, she hadn't thought about her best friend in some time. She should never have abandoned her for Yuki. She could've tried harder to include Machi or to hang out with her more these last two years. Kagura needed someone to talk to about her life. Machi had always provided that.

And she gave all that up for a boy. A boy who she knew, deep down, she no longer cared for. So why did her dream upset her? She didn't love him. Why should it bother her that he finds happiness? _Because it means you would be all alone._

_But I'm already alone._ She told her mind. Maybe she was scared to let the rest of the world know she was alone.

"Kagura?"

She looked up at Mr. S.

"If you're not too busy, we'd like you to present your book to the class."

"Of course, sir. I'm sorry."

Kagura composed herself, got up, and walked to the front of the class with her note sheet. She had always been a good public speaker, but the nerves hit her as she turned around to face the class. A vision of Tohru and Yuki flashed before her but she ignored it and began to speak.

"The book I read isPride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The main character is a young woman, Elizabeth Bennett, who is part of a low-income family in England during the Victorian era. She is stubborn, opinionated, and intelligent but she falls victim to prejudice concerning one man, Mr. Darcy."

Kagura paused to look at the class as her speech tutor had always taught her to do. Her gaze stopped at Yuki, who wasn't even listening to her. His head was down, asleep most likely. She clenched her fist in anger. _He could at least pretend he was listening to me!_ How were they supposed to convince people they were in love if he couldn't even pretend to listen to her.

Then her eyes found Haru, who she just realized was sitting directly in front of her. She felt her cheeks redden at the sight of him. He was smiling at her, just like in her dream.

"Ahem. Kagura?"

She snapped out of her daze.

"Right. Sorry, sir. So Mr. Darcy is this snobby, rich man who no one really likes because he's so arrogant and conceited, or so they think. He falls in love with Elizabeth's intelligence and passion but can't bring himself to propose at first because of her low status. When he finally overlooks that detail and asks for her hand, she snubs him, thinking he's this horrible person. But they are often forced to be in each other's company and the more Elizabeth gets to know him, the more she realizes what a nice, generous, and loving person he is, despite the claims of other people. And they fall in love."

"Very nice summary, Kagura," she heard Mr. S say from behind her, making her smile, "And how does that relate to your own life?"

Her smile faded. She wanted to say she was intelligent and passionate like Elizabeth and that's what drew her to the book. But that wasn't true. And she knew the rest of the class was waiting for her to say she was like Mr. Darcy, rich and snobby.

"Umm….I….I…."

"Well why did you choose this particular book?" He asked.

She immediately looked at Haru, who reddened. She couldn't tell Mr. S that someone else had picked the book out for her because she hadn't done any research on any of the choices herself. She had to think of something quickly.

"I…I think we all know what it's like to judge someone or be judged by someone based on the opinions of other people, even though they don't know the real you or you don't know the real them. I've been on both sides so reading this book helped me realize that it's just human nature to judge someone based on what you think you already know about them."

"Hmm..insightful. Good Job. You may sit."

Kagura let out a deep sigh of relief and walked to her seat. She looked up and saw Haru turn around, smile, and give her a thumbs up. And for the first time in a long time, she smiled back.

* * *

**A/N: So that's the end of this chappie!! I don't even know if you guys like the Kagura/Haru romance thing going on here but I'm having a lot of fun writing it!! Well, hope you like how this chapter went. It actually turned out a lot different than I originally planned but I really like it! Expect another chapter around Thursday evening. Friday night at the latest. R&R!! Thanks!**


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